EU Mobile Roaming Charges Scrapped (bbc.com) 67
From now on, European Union holidaymakers should return home without that sense of high anxiety about their mobile phone bill: extra fees for using it abroad should have gone. From a report: The new rules mean that citizens travelling within the EU will be able to call, text and browse the internet on mobile devices at the same price they pay at home. The European Commission said the end of roaming charges was one of the greatest successes of the EU. But a UK consumer group warned phone users could face "unexpected charges." Until now roaming, or connection, charges have been added to the cost of calls, texts and internet browsing when consumers from one EU country travelled to another and connected to a mobile network there.
Re:"Greatest success"? (Score:5, Insightful)
The European Commission said the end of roaming charges was one of the greatest successes of the EU
If that is one of their "greatest successes" then the EU is a good approximation of worthless. Sure roaming charges are an issue but are a very minor problem in the grand scheme of things.
Pretty much like your opinion - very minor in the grand scheme of things. But since you've taken the time to help others understand that you're bored or incapable of posting something worth reading, why can't you talk about the good from this article where imaginary borders between 28 countries have just been dropped in a way that helps unite the people of Europe and reduce the overall individual's stress levels when dealing with technology and traveling? If anything, the rest of the world can follow suit and make this place more progressive with regards to technology...
Re:"Greatest success"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure roaming charges are an issue but are a very minor problem in the grand scheme of things.
You say that in the comfort of not knowing what it's like being able to walk across the border for lunch, or live in a house where depending on which direction the wind blows you get a message saying welcome to the Netherlands or welcome to Germany, or working in a different country from where you live, or those friends around the corner from you living in a different country.
Roaming charges in a place where countries are so densely packed that you can walk from one side to the other without any great effort are a huge frigging problem.
One thing that is very minor is your understanding of the rest of the world.
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Roaming charges in a place where countries are so densely packed that you can walk from one side to the other without any great effort are a huge frigging problem.
They are. But so is government interference in a free market.
The government (in this case, the EU) has no business dictating what pricing should be for a particular service, unless there are special circumstances like monopolies. It is very hard to argue that there is a monopoly or duopoly in most EU member States' cellphone market.
As a consumer, you have the choice to either accept whatever rate is being set, or to just go and get a local sim card in whatever country you are. Or, to choose a carrier wh
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The government (in this case, the EU) has no business dictating what pricing should be for a particular service
Just like the US government has no business regulating interstate commerce.
Seriously though, the EU is not dictating what the pricing should be, they're only banning the use of a customers location within the EU from being a part of the pricing model. I'm pretty sure service providers can still charge based on call distance if they choose to, they just can't tack on a fee for calls being cross-border. It's a legitimate step to take in bringing Europe closer together.
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they're only banning the use of a customers location within the EU from being a part of the pricing model.
I don't think you understand what they are doing here. They are banning the charging of using a network that is not included in your service. They are banning the charging of using your service on a network that is not paid for by your subscription fees.
On top of that, many EU phone companies have already slashed their fees, in order to gain a competitive advantage. The EUSSR is now taking that away.
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They are banning the charging of using a network that is not included in your service. They are banning the charging of using your service on a network that is not paid for by your subscription fees.
Yes, because the network boundaries very often correspond with national boundaries which it's the EU's role to break down. My bytes travel just fine all over the internet without me having to pay all the network providers involved and without me having to pay any special fees either. Peering arrangements are a thing. Why should mobile networks be any different. Next you'll be telling us you're against net neutrality.
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Yes, because the network boundaries very often correspond with national boundaries which it's the EU's role to break down.
Why would that be the EU's role? Again, network boundaries are a business decision, not a political decision. The EU should keep it's nose out of private businesses.
Peering arrangements are a thing. Why should mobile networks be any different.
Mobile networks are not any different and peering arrangements are a thing. What you are paying for with roaming fees is the privilege to access the network of a third party as if you were a subscriber there.
Let me give you an extreme and fictional example. We have LuxemCell and Deutsche Telekom. LuxemCell only provides services in Luxembourg,
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They are banning the charging of using your service on a network that is not paid for by your subscription fees.
Except that is an artificial delineation. Tell me what when two mobile phone towers are connected by a common fibre backbone by a common provider built by a common country, why should people be charged an exorbitant fee for one vs the other? Or why should a government granted monopoly reserve the right to charge a person several hundred times higher fee than the wholesale access price to a partner provider?
Re: "Greatest success"? (Score:2)
Limited liability companies - all telco companies are that - exist only because the government allows them to. Free market fundamentalists like you often forget that. Don't want the government to meddle - accept unlimited personal liability.
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all telco companies are that - exist only because the government allows them to. Free market fundamentalists like you often forget that
This law would apply to any network, including a mom&pop shop (if that would exist). So your argument is moot.
In a free market, the government steps in only when needed. And right now it's not needed because no single party has the power to abuse consumers.
Re: "Greatest success"? (Score:2)
Yes and if my aunt had a pair, she would be my uncle.
Like I said, limited liability, no personal responsibility, hence the government has to rein in this kind of companies. Mom and pop shops are not the reason any regulations are created because if they misbehave the owners will have to stand for it anyway. More importantly, they don't grow large enough to actually make a lot of damage.
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The government (in this case, the EU) has no business dictating what pricing should be for a particular service
And the government is not. What it is is preventing arbitrary charges that cell carriers tack on for no reason based exclusively on which tower my phone happens to be connected to at a given time. The carriers still have the right to set whatever price they want, they just need to not arbitrarily screw a portion of the people.
As a consumer, you have the choice to either accept whatever rate is being set, or to just go and get a local sim card in whatever country you are.
Yes I have that right. The problem is the inefficiencies that causes. If each local SIM is tied to the same phone number then that's great. Unfortunately due to circumstances that I'll
Re:"Greatest success"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually that is a great success. It means the government only interferes with business when business is hurting consumers.
Unlike say pai who is actively trying to turn internet in the USA into cable interactive television.
Watch out for Andorra-not an EU nation. (Score:3, Interesting)
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Andorra is in Europa, but not in European Union.
same for Switzerland.
these roaming agreements are not applicable.
The continent is Europe, while Europa is a moon of Jupiter, though you are right when you say Andorra is not part of the EU.
There is an article 'The Independent' indicates [independent.co.uk], though the article describes some more of the 'gotchas':
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Europe is actually called Europa in several languages. It does not make understanding any easier.
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We had an EU friendly phone plan. We drove to Andorra...great skiing, good food, nice hospitality. There was a thief in the Mountains, who waylaid our travelers....Andorra Telecom. They sent a message saying that we'd used 50 euro in data (for some google maps...an hour's drive maybe). We turned off data. Then, they shut off our phone for a 250 euro data charge, which had magically run up in that 45 minutes before the 50 euro shutoff message. Andorra Telecom put a black eye on an otherwise interesting place-they are a robber in the hills...so . F@!K Andorra Telecom.
Well... Andora isn't in the EU, same as Switzerland but unlike Switzerland, they use the Euro because they've never had their own currency (prior to the Euro they used French and Spanish money). You should have checked that out before leaving.
Re:User will still pay for roaming (Score:5, Insightful)
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He's not all wrong. At least in Norway, all the plans that didn't already have roaming included have had their prices increased or the data allowance reduced.
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Reasons of roaming fee (Score:3)
Roaming costs will get moved into a different user fee.
There are no real reasons for roaming fee nowadays except to fill the pockets of the providers.
At worst situation for the service provider, he needs to interconnect with another provider.
As most modern telephone back-end use voip (usually SIP), there aren't that many extra costs compared to a home call, and a cell tower is still a cell tower, no matter which country you're in.
At best for the service provider, it's the same parent company in both countries. The client isn't really roaming, he's just using 2
"EU Mobile Roaming Charges Scrapped " (Score:1)
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You are wrong. Roaming charges are dropped already, it doesn't take decades. I don't see why extra taxes or destruction of alcohol would be illegal, being an EU member doesn't mean one can't have stronger laws in some areas. E.g. the VAT is IIRC regulated to be at least 15% but most countries have a tax of 19-25% (often depending on the type of goods - which is also according to local laws).
Sweden have a state monopoly on alcohol and personal import of alcohol is limited to avoid people importing and sellin
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You are wrong. Roaming charges are dropped already,.
This is false. All big 3 finnish operators have been exempted. Roaming charges will continue to be charged as usual, for atleast next 2 years.
I don't see why extra taxes or destruction of alcohol would be illegal, being an EU member doesn't mean one can't have stronger laws in some areas.
Because that was against the law and practiced policy was changed this year without changing the law after they realized they've been running foul of the actual law for decades now.
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You may be surprised to learn that the EU doesn't consist of only Finland and for most people charges are already dropped. The exemption in Finland depends on usage patterns and subscription prices being different than in other parts of the EU and the exemption is currently 1 year. However the maximum cost for consumers are what the Finnish operators pay the foreign operators - I'll let you do the arithmetic how that changes roaming charges in Finland.
T-mobile and Google Fi blow this out of the water (Score:2)
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Both T-mobile and Google Fi offer worldwide free roaming, the EU is years behind
The EU is pushing this through regulation, because the companies weren't willing to do this themselves. T-Mobile and Google Fi aren't European based operators, as far as I am aware? In France there is one operator who offers a great plan, one that being resident in Canada seems excellent, if I only make outgoing calls: http://mobile.free.fr/ [mobile.free.fr] Ignoring the features for people using the phone in France, here are the out of country features (translated), all for 19€/month:
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T-Mobile has Deutsche Telekom as a majority owner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
be careful on the ferry though (Score:5, Interesting)
My UK Vodafone contract already had EU roaming included in it when I went to Germany recently, so I knew that I could keep roaming turned on as I intended to use google maps and the like while I was away. However to get to Europe we took the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. on that ferry trip, my phone picked up the Telenor maritime cell signal from the ferry, which counts as "rest of world" at £6 per meg! I wasn't even using the phone. it had just been checking email etc while I was asleep. Woke to an £18 extra bill for that...
so be careful on the seas people...
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You should be carefull in ALL coastal areas, everywhere in the world. You phone will usually connect to the strongest source, no matter what country that source belong to. Plenty of big ships have a small "celltower" on them with a satellite uplink connecting to the rest of the world. Its for the crew, but most phones can connect to them automatically, and you get great coverage over a sea from the coast, perticulary if youre in rocky coastal terrain in a radio shadow towards land like on many beaches.... a
Bad regulation. (Score:1)
So, what did happen? This regulation has been in the works for ages. Companies knew it was coming and could prepare. Where I am, the average subscription cost (including cellpho
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What are these costs? Half the companies operate internationally. Those that don't can work out mutual agreements with each other. You really believe it costs them €4 to give you whatever it was you used in a week in Portugal?
All their other prices are optimised to maximise the amount they can squeeze out of their customers as it is. Increase prices, they lose customers. Decrease pr
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Fortunately, the regulations also determine what the companies can charge each other.
The amount made from mobile calls was small. But highly profitable, because they could ch
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Are you calling 144€ per year per line "negligible"?!? Will you pay me those 288€/year I'll be missing each year because of this?!? No, of course not.. Negligible my arse...
So, my market doesn't exist (low volume calls, quite a bit of data, rarely roaming, but roaming required)? I either fit in the "roaming not allowed" or in the "get fleeced bec
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No. I'm saying it's negligible to them. It certainly doesn't cost them €144 a year to offer you roaming. But they're quite happy to raise prices for you, and blame EU regulations. Basically, your mobile operator is fleecing you and blaming EU regulations.
Big picture vs small picture (Score:2)
This is not a question of simple economics you make it out to be as it involves little or no actual increase in costs to the telcos, as most of them operate across the EU anyway, just as separate companies from one group. With this they merely take a loss in premium revenue, of course they could always put prices up to try and recover that but potential competition makes that scary. So what to do? Well there is one way to save money, consolidation and that was the EU's plan to begin with.
The EU don't really
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Which is exactly what they did... Raise prices, at least where I live..
If that was their intention, I should now be able to move to, for example a Polish operator and pay Polish prices and preferably even keep my number. That, however, is not a